Class AAAAAAA
1. Milton (19-2)
2. Grayson (15-3)
3. Pebblebrook (19-2)
4. McEachern (19-4)
5. Berkmar (16-5)
6. Cherokee (17-5)
7. South Forsyth (17-3)
8. North Gwinnett (15-7)
9. Parkview (9-3)
10. Gainesville (14-6)
Class AAAAAA
1. Wheeler (16-4)
2. Kell (15-5)
3. Chattahoochee (12-1)
4. Evans (16-2)
5. Shiloh (14-4)
6. Richmond Hill (15-1)
7. Lanier (15-4)
8. Centennial (15-3)
9. Douglas County (16-5)
10. Westlake (12-3)
Class AAAAA
1. Tri-Cities (15-4)
2. Eagle’s Landing (21-1)
3. St. Pius X (18-2)
4. Veterans (14-0)
5. Lithonia (11-2)
6. Woodward Academy (12-6)
7. Forest Park (8-4)
8. Jonesboro (15-4)
9. Dutchtown (16-7)
10. Clarke Central (12-6)
Class AAAA
1. Baldwin (10-0)
2. Spencer (10-1)
3. Monroe (14-3)
4. Miller Grove (7-4)
5. Stephenson (9-3)
6. Westover (9-4)
7. Luella (17-5)
8. Fayette County (12-11)
9. Jefferson (15-4)
10. Bainbridge (11-5)
Class AAA
1. Sandy Creek (16-4)
2. Hart County (15-3)
3. Windsor Forest (8-2)
4. Johnson-Savannah (11-2)
5. Salem (11-4)
6. Hephzibah (9-2)
7. Cross Creek (12-4)
8. Carver-Atlanta (10-4)
9. White County (13-5)
10. LaFayette (13-1)
Class AA
1. Pace Academy (17-1)
2. Swainsboro (12-1)
3. Washington County (9-0)
4. Columbia (13-5)
5. Lovett (13-5)
6. Thomasville (14-1)
7. Chattooga (12-2)
8. Westside-Augusta (10-4)
9. Woodville-Tompkins (11-4)
10. Banks County (15-7)
Class A-Private
1. Providence Christian (17-3)
2. Galloway (12-1)
3. Trinity Christian (14-6)
4. St. Anne-Pacelli (11-3)
5. Mt. Pisgah (14-6)
6. Christian Heritage (16-2)
7. Greenforest (10-4)
8. First Presbyterian Day (13-1)
9. St. Francis (3-8)
10. Holy Innocents’ (7-2)
Class A-Public
1. Drew Charter (18-0)
2. Dublin (21-1)
3. Irwin County (12-4)
4. Towns County (14-3)
5. Bowdon (17-4)
6. Hancock Central (5-1)
7. Lanier County (14-4)
8. Chattahoochee County (5-1)
9. Manchester (6-1)
10. Warren County (7-3)
It’s officially the home stretch as region play wraps up this week and next. The regular season is more important than ever as currently 13 known regions will not have region tournaments which will pose the debate – is it fair? Would you rather sit out up to a week and a half without playing a game and have a chance to scout, or would you rather your team fight its way through the region playoffs and roll into the state tournament with momentum and not rust? It will be interesting to see whether it will have an effect either way.
No. 1 Milton’s nationwide statement season in Class 7A rolled on as Kanaan Carlyle banked in a three with seconds left in overtime to stave off a comeback from No. 6 Cherokee, 66-63. The Warriors erased a 12-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter behind Xavier-signee Elijah Tucker’s 30 points to force overtime but Ohio State-commit Bruce Thornton (19 points, 7 assists) and Kendall Campbell (17 points, 5 rebounds) were too much to overcome. LT Overton collected 14 points and 17 rebounds while Carlyle finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds. The Eagles closed the week with a 90-77 win over Class 6A No. 1 Wheeler, avenging last year’s Final Four loss. Thornton piled in 29 points and 8 assists while Carlyle netted 25. Cherokee drops a spot following a 66-52 loss to Etowah as Brock Rechsteiner scored 20 points to overcome Taihland Owens’ 16. No. 3 Pebblebrook rolled with wins over East Coweta (89-60) and Archer (63-40). No. 4 McEachern handled East Coweta 71-49 and Newnan 87-46. No. 5 Berkmar won 56-43 at Peachtree Ridge before blasting Dunwoody 79-46, getting 20 points and 12 rebounds from Malique Ewin. No. 8 North Gwinnett has won eight-straight with road wins over Mill Creek 63-36 and Mountain View 62-47, Thomas Allard scoring 22 points against the Bears as the Bulldogs punched their ticket to the state tournament. RJ Godfrey posted 12 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists while Alabama-Huntsville-signee Brendan Rigsbee collected 11 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks.
Class 6A No. 1 Wheeler got revenge against South Cobb 74-70, FGCU-signee Ja’Heim Hudson posting 18 points and 9 rebounds while Max Harris scored 16 points and Dayton-signee Kaleb Washington added 14 points and 7 rebounds. The Wildcats fell 90-77 at Class 7A No. 1 Milton to finish the week. No. 2 Kell defeated Pope 78-68 behind Scoot Henderson’s 27 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists and Jaylen Harris’ 16 points before heading into a two-week quarantine. No. 6 Richmond Hill suffered their first loss of the season, 54-49 on the road at 15-2 Statesboro. Albert Mikell scored 16 points to lead the Blue Devils while the Wildcats were without star guard Jaeden Marshall who is expected to return this week. No. 4 Evans held off Heritage-Conyers 57-55 to move up two spots. Rashad King scored 19 points followed by Brasen James’ 15. No. 7 Lanier sinks two places after a 64-59 loss to Winder-Barrow, Wyatt Fricks leading the charge with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in the upset. No. 9 Douglas County saw Lander-commit Omarion Smith surpass the 500-career block mark in the Tigers’ 56-44 win over South Paulding. He finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks while Omari Fonteno tallied 18 points and 5 assists to win Douglas County’s eighth straight. Tucker (14-5) falls out of the Top 10 after a 54-44 loss at 18-3 North Atlanta. Debuting is No. 10 Westlake. The Lions won 63-55 in overtime over Langston Hughes and beat Morrow 76-60. They get the slight edge over North Atlanta thanks to their sweep of the Warriors 54-46 and 55-50.
No. 1 Tri-Cities remained perfect in Region 3-5A. The Bulldogs won at Mundy’s Mill 88-70 before beating returnee No. 8 Jonesboro 81-67. The Cardinals are back in the rankings after clipping No. 6 Woodward Academy 63-53 behind Nathaniel Adams’ 15 points and 10 rebounds. Lathan Minnifield chipped in 14 points and Yannis Woods tacked on 12 points and 8 rebounds. Woodward Academy slips only one spot as they rebounded with wins over Mundy’s Mill 70-45 and No. 7 Forest Park 87-66, who has now lost three in a row. Logan Stephens dropped 25 points, 6 assists and 4 steals while Belmont-signee Will Richard collected 23 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals in the win against the Panthers. Forest Park was upset 74-73 at Creekside earlier in the week when PJ Murray scored 18 points to lead the Seminoles. Outside of Region 3, No. 2 Eagle’s Landing defeated No. 9 Dutchtown 75-71. No. 4 Veterans remained perfect, off to their best start in school history by beating Warner Robins 63-59. TJ Grant scored 19 points and Tajh Williams had 14. No. 5 Lithonia rises two spots after winning 52-48 at Southwest DeKalb without DeKalb County leading scorer Raheem Swain (25 ppg) who was injured in practice. Dropping out are Chapel Hill (14-7) and Cass (15-6). The Panthers lost 64-59 at New Manchester while Cass was upset by rival Cartersville 54-53, who they beat by 36 points earlier in the season. No. 10 Clarke Central debuts after sweeping bitter rival Cedar Shoals for the first time in seven years. The Gladiators are rolling since getting their football players back, winners of nine-straight. They picked up four wins this week beating Jackson County (64-36), Johnson-Gainesville (67-50), Greenbrier (50-43) and Cedar Shoals (48-45). Jairus “NoNo” Mack scored 11 points while Kahari Dean netted 9 in the win over Cedar Shoals who was shorthanded.
A new number one emerges in Class 4A following No. 2 Spencer’s 77-70 loss to Class A-Private No. 4 St. Anne-Pacelli, Randall Dixon’s 17 points to not enough to overcome a 16-point hole heading into the fourth quarter. No. 1 Baldwin is the lone unbeaten remaining in the classification. They went 3-0 this past week, highlighted by a 70-45 walloping of Westside-Macon as the Braves were able to hold Florida-signee Kowacie Reeves Jr. to 15 points and 14 rebounds while Baldwin saw four players reach double figures in Jacobi Nixon (14), Jermyus Simmons (13), William Freeman (11) and Shatavious Hogan (11 points, 11 rebounds). No. 6 Westover falls two spots after a 49-47 loss at No. 10 Bainbridge, who returns to the poll for the first time since Week 6. Rising four positions is No. 4 Miller Grove. The Wolverines punished Arabia Mountain (7-4) in their rematch, avenging a 40-37 overtime loss by drilling the Rams 78-35 on the road and pushing them from the Top 10 after they also lost 56-54 at Mays to start the week. Zyair Greene (19), Marqua Owens (10) and Jahmil Barber (10) did the majority of the damage for Miller Grove. Keep an eye on No. 5 Stephenson who rises two places. The Jaguars are getting healthy and got a key 55-31 win over Marist. Stephenson gets a major shot in the arm with the transfer of Chase Ballard, who starred at Arabia Mountain last year before being ruled ineligible at Lithonia to start this season. The senior was just cleared to play at Stephenson and scored 11 points in his debut in a 55-51 win over Hapeville. He teams up with EJ Walker to form one of the most potent scoring backcourts in the state. No. 7 Luella slips two spots and all of a sudden are in a little bit of trouble heading into the Region 5 tournament. They lost for the second time to McDonough (13-8, 8-2) 57-51 and now sit at 9-2 in region play and have to travel to No. 8 Fayette County on Tuesday. The Tigers resurface in the Top 10 after taking four weeks to claw their way back. Fayette County has won three in a row and are 9-1 in the region. They look to clinch first-place this week and get payback for a wild 83-76 loss to Luella earlier in the season which saw 43 fouls, two player ejections and three fan ejections. Falling from the rankings is Cedar Shoals (13-7). The Jaguars take a brief hiatus after winning at North Oconee 84-71 but falling to rival Class 5A No. 10 Clarke Central 48-45, swept for the first time in seven years. Cedar Shoals played without one of their top guards in Jerdavian Colbert who was gone for football.
No. 3 Windsor Forest swept No. 4 Johnson-Savannah 69-65 in Region 3-3A play as D’Ante Bass scored 22 points and Shamar Norman netted 16 to hold off 16 from Emondre Bowles and 13 apiece out of Antonio Baker and Ted Hurst. No. 2 Hart County defeated Monroe Area 68-57 behind Emmanuel College-commit Shone Webb’s 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. No. 5 Salem edged No. 8 Carver-Atlanta 52-46, dropping the Panthers two spots. Carver-Atlanta bounced back with an overtime win at Westminster 50-49 and a 64-56 win against Cedar Grove without Mitchell Taylor. No. 7 Cross Creek beat Thomson 71-55 as Richard Visitacion (24), Miles College-commit Corey Trotter (21) and Devin Pope (20) all reached the 20-point plateau. No. 9 White County rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to knock off Cherokee Bluff 53-46, Jadon Yeh (16) and Silas Mulligan (15) combining for 31 points to take sole possession of first-place in Region 7 heading into the final week of the regular season. No. 10 LaFayette rises back into the Top 10 after squeezing Sonoraville (17-2) from the poll. The Ramblers got revenge, leading by 17 at the half before settling for a 54-43 win at home against the Phoenix. Junior Barber scored 18 points followed by DeCameron Porter’s 17 and Aidan Hadaway’s 10 in the win.
In Class 2A, No. 1 Pace Academy wrecked Langston Hughes 74-47 with Florida State-signee Matthew Cleveland pouring in 25 points, 14 rebounds and 4 steals while Madison Durr double-doubled with 13 points and 13 assists. No. 3 Washington County beat up on Jasper County 77-36 as Jairus Brown posted 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals while JT Thomas had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. No. 4 Columbia dispatched of Towers 74-49, Daquavious Harrison netting 20 points and 7 rebounds. No. 5 Lovett beat KIPP Atlanta 67-45 behind Georgetown-signee Ryan Mutombo’s 24 points and 4 blocks. No. 7 Chattooga still owns Northwest Georgia. They survived Model (16-4) 56-55 without Damien Smith and send the Blue Devils to the land of the unranked. Smith returned for the first time since January 5th, pouring in 19 points off 5 threes in the second half against Fannin County to win on the road 47-40. Back in the rankings is No. 10 Banks County who defeated Union County 77-42. The Leopards held the Panthers scoreless till the 5-minute mark of the second quarter. Pierce Martin scored 19 points and Garrett Presley chipped in 14 while Dakota Orr finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Class A-Private is far from predictable as the classification sees its fourth different team ascend to number one in the rankings with No. 1 Providence Christian being the latest to climb the mountain top. The Storm won at No. 10 Holy Innocents’ 61-59 behind Chance Thacker’s 22 points and Tony Carpio’s 20 points and 14 rebounds. They have a major test on Tuesday as they host No. 2 Galloway. No. 5 Mt. Pisgah slides four spots after a 69-55 loss to No. 9 St. Francis, who says not so fast my friend. It took all of one week out of the poll to wake up the new-look Knights. They quickly earned a pair of payback wins beating the Patriots and hammering King’s Ridge Christian (12-3) just seven days after a 79-71 loss, winning on the road 78-48 to boot the Tigers from the Top 10 and take their spot. Seth Hubbard broke out with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks while Alabama-signee Jusaun Holt poured in 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals against King’s Ridge. Junior Drew Robinson has emerged as a key piece in the backcourt. He scored 16 points apiece against Mt. Pisgah and King’s Ridge. Back near the top of the poll, Sami Pissis continues his remarkable season for No. 3 Trinity Christian and is emerging as a dark horse candidate for Player of the Year in Class A-Private. The Frenchman piled in 37 points, 6 assists and 3 steals in the Lions’ 70-55 win over ELCA. Trinity Christian hosts No. 4 St. Anne-Pacelli on Tuesday. The Vikings are coming off a 77-70 win at last week’s Class 4A No. 1 Spencer, who was previously undefeated. Travis Harper II and Pierre Summers exploded, Harper collecting 29 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists while Summers had a career-night with 28 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.
No new teams enter the Top 10 in Class A-Public, but a handful are on the verge as they await region play to shake things up in these laggard regions. No. 1 Drew Charter took advantage of a shorthanded No. 5 Bowdon to win 94-52 as the Red Devils were without Authur Johnson (22.6 ppg) and Kirequs Vaughn (11.2 ppg). No. 3 Irwin County leaps four spots following a 68-62 win at No. 7 Lanier County. No. 4 Towns County drops one position, unable to handle the hot shooting of Social Circle in a 74-64 loss. No. 6 Hancock Central lost 64-61 at rival Wilkinson County. The Warriors narrowly miss out on a Top 10 appearance due to their 76-74 loss at Crawford County on Friday, the Eagles also knocking at the door of the rankings in a hotly contested Region 7 that sees the current standings show Wilkinson County (5-1), No. 6 Hancock Central (5-1), Crawford County (6-2) and No. 10 Warren County (4-2). Region 5 will likely be decided on Thursday as No. 8 Chattahoochee County travels to No. 9 Manchester. It’s a loser leaves town game as both teams are barely hanging onto their positions in the poll due to their limited amount of action.